Mamata leading state downhill: CPM leaders

Barely two days before the state government led by chief minister Mamata Banerjee is to hold an investors’ summit in Haldia, top CPI(M) leaders lamented the lack of progress on the industrial front since the change of guard in the state, Koushik Dutta reports.

Barely two days before the state government led by chief minister Mamata Banerjee is to hold an investors’ summit in Haldia in a bid to draw them to the industry-starved Bengal, top CPI(M) leaders held a meet in the area on Sunday, lamenting the lack of progress on the industrial front since the change of guard in the state.

Addressing party supporters at the showcase hub of Bengal, the Left top bosses accused the chief minister of failing to live up to her pledge of fashioning an industrial resurgence in Bengal and bring big-ticket investments to the state since taking office.

They said while no new industries have come up since the Left’s defeat in the polls, many proposed projects have or are in the process of moving out of the state. They said the chief minister was leading the state downhill, especially on the industrial front.

Despite the jaundiced state of economy, the state government has arranged for the gala event titled Bengal Leads, primarily with a view to showcasing the state to potential investors and send out a message to the people that all’s not bad on the industrial front and that there are enough big-ticket projects and investments on the horizon.

The chief minister, who recently hosted leading industrial captains at a similar event in the Capital, would inaugurate the event on Tuesday.

State industries minister Partha Chatterjee recently claimed to have got assurance from top industrialists about investment worth thousands of crores and a raft of industrial projects in the state.

However, seeking to puncture the claim on the day, CPI(M) politburo member and former industries minister Nirupam Sen said, “The government keeps claiming that investments worth crores are on the horizon and many industrialists have promised to bring a rash of new projects in the state. But, the scene on the ground is just the opposite.

The chief minister has said in as many words that her government won’t acquire land for industries. Where would these industries come up then? She has also claimed to have fulfilled most of her promises to the people of Bengal. This should also mean that she has brought new industrial projects. So where are these projects? These are merely figments of her imagination.”

Addressing the teeming numbers, veteran CPI(M) leader Rabin Deb said, “We are fighting to save industries in Haldia and other parts of the state. While no new industries have come up, many proposed projects seem uncertain.

Though the government’s showcase event has been titled Bengal Leads, given the present industrial scene, it ought to be named Bengal In Ruins. There’s anarchy in every sector right now. The Trinamool leaders have brazenly resorted to extortion and the chief minister herself is leading the way in the name of selling paintings.”